Love is More than a Word, Chapter 84: The First Comes First (3)...
The corridors were silent and the noise of the lobby downstairs could be heard.
Tao Mo sat down slowly against the door frame, one hand on the floor, one hand on his knee, his eyes and ears glued to the room.
Tao Mo turned to look at the lights in Gu-She's house and whispered, “When Gu Xiaojia comes back, I'll go back to rest.”
Tao Mo laughed dryly, “Xianzhi sleeps, I'm clumsy, I'm afraid to disturb him.”
Lao Tao stared at him without saying a word.
Tao Mo ducked his head awkwardly.
Lao Tao sighed and shrank back.
Tao Mo sat back down.
Lao Tao soon came back out with a blanket in his hand, “It's cold on the floor, Young Master, sit wrapped up.” he said, laying the blanket on the floor and when Tao Mo moved over, he folded up the other half of the blanket and put it over him.
Tao Mo was grateful: “Thank you.”
Lao Tao said, “Young Master Gu is wounded, Young Master must not stay too late.”
Tao Mo doesn't get it. When Gu-She was injured, he should have stayed late, why not not stay late?
Lao Tao didn't explain and went back to his room.
Tao Mo sat with the blanket on his back, his whole body slowly warms up and sleep comes with it. Just as he was about to fall asleep, he heard the sound of anxious footsteps and saw Gu Xiaojia rushing towards him like a soldier in the sky.
“What are you doing here?” Gu Xiaojia stood in front of him, looking down at him strangely.
Tao Mo, half asleep, rubbed his eyes, “I was waiting for you.”
“Waiting for me?” Gu Xiaojia blanched, “Is something wrong with Young Master?”
He yelled at Tao Mo that he was so sleepy that he wouldn't leave. He stood up, waved his hand and said, “He's fine. I was afraid that if anything happened to Xianzhi, no one would take care of him.”
Gu Xiaojia's brow loosened slightly, “Why don't you go inside and wait?”
Tao Mo whispered, “Xianzhi is asleep.”
Gu Xiaojia felt odd, gave him a suspicious glance and pushed the door open.
When the door opened, Tao Mo stretched his neck as far as he could to look in the direction of the bed.
Since the back room was still a long way from the door, he could only see the half-bursting blanket under the bed.
“Young Master, I'm back.” Gu Xiaojia crept in, only to find Gu-She looking at him with his eyes wide open, his gaze cool and clear, not in the least bit sleepy? He was shocked and said, “Is the Young Master still awake?”
Gu-She asked instead of answering, “Who is it?”
“The strokes are thick. Clerk Zhang.” muttered Gu Xiaojia, “I don't know what they're thinking but all they do is imitate Young Master's paintings for fun. Boring! But outsiders are so stupid, they don't even believe it. And the newbies even say the Young Master is a fake, it's hopeless.”
Gu-She said: “It wasn't that he didn't really believe but he was reluctant to believe and he couldn't believe.”
Gu Xiaojia was a little dizzy from the wind.
Gu-She said: “The shop's treasure is a fake and it's bad for the reputation.”
Gu Xiaojia said, “Doesn't it hurt to cover your ears?”
“A merchant prefers profit to fame.”
Gu Xiaojia said: “So the merchant is cunning and most of all cannot be befriended.”
Gu-She said: “That's not quite true.”
Gu Xiaojia complained for a while, only to notice that Gu-She's face wasn't too good and was shocked, busy saying, “Young Master but where are you feeling unwell.”
Knock.
There's a bump on the door frame.
Gu Xiaojia turned back, right in front of Tao Mo's worried and anxious eyes. He turns to look at Gu-She, still looking weak and unruffled.
“Just sleepy.” Gu-She waved his hand.
Gu Xiaojia smiled apologetically and said, “I'll go guard the outhouse, Young Master can call me if he needs anything.”
“The outhouse?” Gu-She refuted grimly.
Gu Xiaojia's smile fell, “The inn's kitchen is far away and I'm afraid I won't be able to hear Young Master's call.”
Gu-She said, “You're not needed here, just go.”
Gu Xiaojia reluctantly walked out of the house, taking three steps and turning back one at a time but Gu-She was so determined that she wouldn't budge even if he looked sad and grief-stricken. Gu Xiaojia turned around, faced Tao Mo and turned his sad face into a vicious stare, “Take care of my family Young Master! Don't forget how he got his wound.”
Tao Mo nodded quickly and instead of feeling annoyed at being threatened, he felt a sense of relief.
Gu Xiaojia wasn't worried and advised, “Young Master sleeps lightly, so don't fall asleep to death. If you hear Young Master coughing or stirring in the middle of the night, give him half a glass of water, no more, no less.”
Tao Mo took note.
Gu Xiaojia added, “If Young Master gets up at night, he must first light a lamp, then go outside and keep watch.”
Tao Mo wrote it down again.
Gu Xiaojia was about to say something, when Gu-She's dry cough came from inside.
Gu Xiaojia's head recoiled and was about to leave, when Tao Mo flew in.
Tao Mo neatly poured half a glass of water, with Gu Xiaojia's words still on his mind, no more, no less and then carefully held it in front of him, looking at Gu-She expectantly.
Gu-She looked back at him, as if she was thinking about something and then she slowly looked away for a while.
Tao Mo was busy bringing the cups together.
Gu-She dips his lips in it and moves away.
Tao Mo looked at the water, which was almost intact and then at Gu-She and said with some disappointment, “Enough?”
“Yeah.” Gu-She closed his eyes again.
Tao Mo put the cup back on the table and whispered, “I'll be at the door, just call me if you need anything.”
“No need.” Gu-She said, “Go sleep outside.”
Tao Mo was startled, then beamed with joy, “I, I can really go outside?”
Gu-She slowed down: “If you're sick of...”
“Yes!” Tao Mo rushed to the door, picked up the blanket, threw it on the bed and closed the door in a flash, all in the blink of an eye.
“...” Gu-She said, “Go to sleep.”
“Yes.” Tao Mo said but he sat against the wall with the blanket on his back. He knew he'd be a heavy sleeper when he lay down, so he sat down, so he could get up easily.
It's not far between the inside and the outside.
Tao Mo had the feeling that he could hear his opponent's breathing just by concentrating on his breath. He did so and then heard Gu-She move on the bed.
“Would you like some water?” he asked.
“No need.” Gu-She replied.
“Is that going to be...? Are you going to get up at night?” Tao Mo asked again.
“No need.”
Tao Mo was a little worried, got out of bed and looked into the back room.
Gu-She's lying with his eyes closed.
Tao Mo felt a headache in his heart. Not only is it uncomfortable to lie on the bed all the time but it's also uncomfortable to lie face up on the bed for a long time without moving. If he could trade, he'd be happy to be the one lying on the bed, even if it took him a month, or even a year.
But he can't. He doesn't even know how to express his feelings. For what Gu-She had done for him, he could return too little and too little.
It was easy to say thanks but too easy, he couldn't say it. He couldn't even imagine how someone as arrogant and cold as Gu-She could be beaten with a cane in the middle of a lobby, in full view of everyone!
But it's happened after all.
The man who should be laughing at the world outside of it is lying on his bed, covered in wounds. And the one who should be punished is standing here, unharmed.
He despised himself but he was not allowed to despise himself. For there are too many people who have high hopes for him to despise himself.
What a contradiction!
Tao Mo's fingers tightened, clenched into fists and the veins on the back of his hands were visible.
“How long will you stand?” Gu-She asked with his eyes closed.
Tao Mo opened his mouth wanting to speak but blood rushed through his body, he swallowed, tried to get out with a bang but there is an invisible gate between his lips and teeth.
“Are you...” After some time, he was startled to hear his own voice in the quiet of the night, “Are you, uh, thirsty?”
Gu-She didn't answer.
Tao Mo blushed, “Sorry.”
“What are you apologizing for?” Gu-She finally opened his eyes, his gaze going to him.
Tao Mo lowered his head, not paying attention and trailed off, “I got you into this.”
“I went to court of my own free will and what happens after that is no one's business.”
No one... is he irrelevant?
Tao Mo's fists tightened again, his fingernails almost cupped in his palms, he looked up suddenly but into Gu-She's cold, almost indifferent eyes, the blood rushing to his head cooled, like a drop in the ice, “I'm sorry.” Beyond those two words, he had nothing to say.
Gu-She stared at him, “Is that all you have to say?”
More than that? He had a thousand words to say but he didn't know how to say them. Tao Mo nodded for a long while, numbed by his stare.
Gu-She didn't change his face but Tao Mo felt as if his breathing was becoming a little choked.
“You admire Liu Chongpin?”
It took Tao Mo a long time to dig into his confused head and remember who Liu Chongpin was. He said, “I don't know, I don't know him well.”
Gu-She didn't say anything, as if weighing the odds against his statement.
Tao Mo said, “He's here with Master Yao and he's a guest. And since he holds you in such high esteem, I think, I think he's probably not a bad guy.”
“Oh?”
A simple word but it took the pressure off Tao Mo.
“Don't you think he's good-looking?”
Tao Mo was stunned, thought about it carefully and realized that Liu Chongpin was indeed a sight to behold at first sight but in hindsight, his charisma had diminished drastically, there was nothing memorable about him, he just had better features. He answered honestly: “Not as good looking as you.”
Gu-She said, “The Tang City Prefecture has a lot of things to do, so it's not a good idea to stay long.”
“But you're too wounded to travel far.” Tao Mo frowned. He'd been away from Tangyang County for a few days and he wanted to go back soon but he couldn't trust Gu-She.
Gu-She said, “No problem. We leave tomorrow.”
One day it was the constable, today it's the Master Yao and tomorrow it's the Prefecture Magistrate himself who will apologize. He didn't want to look at these people's flattering faces and he didn't want to bother with them, so returning to Tangyang would help him recover.
Tao Mo originally wanted to say more but then he told him that Tangyang had a great doctor who could help him recover sooner and he was happy to do it.
~ Love is More than A Word ~
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